How Is Drought Cutting Colombia's Coffee Production?

Months of drought and wildfires across South America have hit Colombia, the world's third-largest coffee grower. August coffee production fell to 1.05 million bags and inventories dropped 7.2% month-on-month. Cauca Department saw its worst fire in nearly three decades, damaging large areas of coffee crops, and water restrictions leave farmers unable to irrigate adequately.

Nearly 11,000 hectares have burned nationwide, with fires also reported in Tolima, Cundinamarca and border zones near Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. Among the main coffee producing countries, Colombia faces a squeeze: using too little water lowers yields, while exceeding limits brings fines. Falling output and shrinking stocks are pushing international coffee prices higher.

A drought and wildfires lasting for months are sweeping across South America, and Colombia has not been spared. Forests in many places have been burned down, water sources are running critically low, the Amazon River's water level has plummeted, and Cauca Department has suffered its worst fire in nearly three decades, with large numbers of coffee crops damaged. Water restrictions have left coffee farmers caught in a dilemma: insufficient irrigation affects yields, while exceeding water limits brings fines. The latest data shows that Colombia's coffee production in August has fallen to 1.05 million bags, with inventories down 7.2% month-on-month. As the world's third-largest coffee-producing country, both production and inventories are declining, which is driving up international coffee prices.

According to media reports, drought has recently struck the entire South American region, with multiple countries in South America reporting severe drought and being hit by wildfires. In addition to Brazil, which has been severely affected, countries such as Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia have also not been spared. According to the Colombian government, multiple provinces in Colombia have been hit by wildfires, which are currently being extinguished.

According to a report from Colombia's National Unit for Disaster Risk Management, nearly 11,000 hectares of land in Colombia have been burned by fires, and some of the affected fire areas are regions bordering Ecuador, Peru, or Brazil, where fires have also occurred.

At present, it is reported that in addition to areas bordering multiple countries, severe fires have also broken out in several provinces in central Colombia. A forest fire broke out in Tolima Department in Colombia's Andean region, causing 2 injuries, with farmland and forests burned, and the government dispatched 8 aircraft to fight the fire. In addition, Cundinamarca Department, where Colombia's capital Bogotá is located, has also been hit by wildfires, mainly concentrated in Gachancipá, where large areas of forest and vegetation have been burned by the fires, and firefighters are currently battling the flames.

However, according to local firefighters, the difficulty of extinguishing the fires is currently very high. The main reasons are that the weather is extremely dry, and severe strong winds and the dry environment are causing the fire to continue spreading, while the drought has led to insufficient water sources.

According to Colombia's National Unit for Disaster Risk Management, over the past more than three months, affected by widespread severe drought, the Amazon River, one of South America's largest rivers, has suffered severe drought, and the water level of the Amazon River within Colombia has dropped sharply, falling by 80% to 90%. Boats have run aground, and large areas of land have been exposed due to the excessively low water level.

Earlier, Colombia reported that in the second half of this year, Colombia would still be affected by the aftermath of El Niño. During the summer period from August to September, hot weather and drought conditions intensified, and there was no rainfall, leading to an extreme shortage of water resources in Colombia. Water levels in multiple major water-supply reservoirs have declined, so the water available for production capacity has continued to decrease. In addition, multiple provinces in Colombia are currently affected by large-scale fires, which have also affected surrounding water sources, worsening the shortage.

In addition, the largest fire in nearly 30 years occurred in Cauca Department in southwestern Colombia, severely affecting multiple areas of the province. Large numbers of crops such as coffee were destroyed, and surrounding water sources were also affected. Therefore, in September, multiple provinces in Colombia began to restrict water use, and the Drinking Water and Basic Sanitation Regulatory Commission (CRA) announced a series of strict water restriction measures.

At present, extreme weather such as drought and fires is severely impacting Colombia's coffee industry. In Colombia, coffee is mainly concentrated in the central Andes Mountains, but these areas are highly vulnerable to wildfire threats. In addition, water restrictions pose a major challenge to the coffee industry. Due to drought and lack of rainfall, irrigation of coffee plants should be increased, but the government has restricted current water use and has also called on agricultural industries such as coffee and bananas to adopt more efficient irrigation technologies to optimize water use, rather than using water arbitrarily. Many coffee farmers are caught in a dilemma: on one hand, lack of water will be detrimental to coffee growth and reduce yields; on the other hand, increasing water use may exceed established water limits and lead to fines, increasing costs.

At present, Colombia's coffee production is declining. According to a report from the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC), from May to July this year, coffee production remained at around 1.1 million bags (60 kg/bag), but the latest data shows that Colombia's coffee production in August was 1.05 million bags, a decrease of nearly 100,000 bags. In addition, Colombia's coffee inventories are gradually decreasing, down 7.2% month-on-month to 962,000 bags.

The decline in inventories and coffee production will lead to a reduction in the volume available for export. As the world's third-largest coffee-producing country, a reduction in export volume is not conducive to the development of the country's coffee industry. In addition, the reduction in export volume is also continuously pushing up international coffee prices. Coupled with multiple countries reporting reduced production, coffee prices will be difficult to bring down in the short term.

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.